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Well that was pretty lame.
The Good
- Gaudreaubey Baker -- Fortuately for us all, Johnny Gaudreau picked up right where he left off last year and was all over the ice, drawing the ire of Northeastern fans every time he touched the puck. BC's first goal was a result of his signature pass into the slot from Gretzky's Office. He nearly dangled around two Northeastern defenders who were absolutely mugging him in the third period but just lost the puck off the toe of his stick at the last second. Not to mention the fact that "Gaudreaubey Baker" shirts were spotted all over the place at Matthews Arena.
- Special Teams -- While giving Northeastern *seven* power play opportunities isn't really how you want to spend your day, BC killed all seven of those chances. After being a perfect 4 for 4 on the penalty kill against New Brunswick, it looks like the Eagles are at least have the ability to stall their opponents after taking a penalty. We also took advantage of our own chances, scoring our only goal on one of our two power play chances.
- Mike Matheson -- THIS DUDE IS SO LEGIT. Keep an eye on him. BC really needed Matheson to play a big role after losing both Dumoulin and Cross to the pros, and you can tell watching him play that he is already playing a huge role. He is a big, strong player, both on the body and on the puck. You just have all the confidence in the world when he's part of the play. We'll be lucky to get three years out of this guy.
The Bad
- The Bottom Lines -- The Gaudreau line is obviously going to be a heavy producer. The top line of Hayes-Arnold-Straight has a ton of talent. But the bottom two lines were nowhere to be found and are going to need to develop a bit to make this a championship team. Despite outshooting the Huskies it felt like we never had any sustained possession at all. The bottom lines weren't the only reason for that, as there were plenty of upperclassmen who just didn't show up as well. But they definitely didn't help the cause much. It's a point of concern, but one of the hallmarks of Jerry York's teams is having younger players on the lower lines develop over the course of the season into grinder, role-player guys with really good chemistry. Tons of time to play around with the lines, but it's definitely not there yet.
- Coasting -- I lost track of how many times Northeastern's players worked their ass off to get to a puck first while a BC player coasted in. It was crystal clear who wanted this game more. We were not the number one team in the nation tonight. There are concerns about the gameplay but those can and will be worked out over a long season. This was an effort loss. I'm not saying BC didn't come to play at all, but Northeastern put effort into every stride and every battle. That's why BC lost this game: we were completely outworked.
The Ugly
- Northeastern's Third Goal -- Just terrible. BC just wasn't mentally there in this game and Milner clearly doesn't get a pass on this either. This one was just all on him. Skip ahead to 2:06 to see what we're talking about:
- Milner, Milner, Milner, you suck -- Milner, Milner, Milner, you suck... Milner, Milner, Milner, you suck... Milner, Milner, Milner, you suck... Milner, Milner, Milner, you suck... Milner, Milner, Milner, you suck... Milner, Milner, Milner, you suck... Milner, Milner, Milner, you suck... Milner, Milner, Milner, you suck... Milner, Milner, Milner, you suck... Milner, Milner, Milner, you suck... Milner, Milner, Milner, you suck... Milner, Milner, Milner, you suck...Milner, Milner, Milner, you suck... Milner, Milner, Milner, you suck... Milner, Milner, Milner, you suck... Milner, Milner, Milner, you suck... Milner, Milner, Milner, you suck... Every once in a while, a hockey fan base starts some chant or something that makes them really proud of themselves. After said chant, they get all giddy, do some back-slappin' and high-fivin' and tell their buddies who weren't at the game just how wicked cool it was. At Vermont a few years ago, this happened with a "F*** BC!" chant. At Northeastern, it was a "Milner, Milner, Milner, you suck" chant repeated over and over, for at least a dozen times or more in a row. And more than once during the game! It just made us all want to go home and take some Advil.
BC tries to pick itself off the mat against UMass at the Mullins Center on Friday before Banner Night against these same Huskies next Saturday at Conte Forum. Good luck getting tickets -- it may actually be sold out already.